Gives you a complete and always updated picture of exactly where the Indians payroll stands this year, as well as dollars/players the team is committed to in future years. This is always something I've wanted to see, and we will house a constantly updated version on Swerbs Blurbs.

The Consigliere is working on some other great features for that page, like an organizational depth chart all the way down through A ball, and some other neat features offering up constantly updated data on the Indians organization.

We will also be adding an Indians scoreboard graphic that will shows the line score of the Indians previous nights game.

I've got 5-6 phenomenal Indians writers. We will be ALL OVER the Tribe this year. Recaps of every game, commentary, analysis, minor league updates, prospect bios ... you name it.

And as always, any suggestions as to how to enhance that Indians page or our Indians coverage are ALWAYS encouraged.

"It's like dating a woman who hates you so much she will never break up with you, even if you burn down the house every single autumn." ~ Chuck Klosterman on Browns fans relationship with the Browns

Gives you a complete and always updated picture of exactly where the Indians payroll stands this year, as well as dollars/players the team is committed to in future years. This is always something I've wanted to see, and we will house a constantly updated version on Swerbs Blurbs.

Ditto. Since the formerly indispensible Dugout Dollars stopped updating, I've wanted a resource (and been too lazy to do it myself) with the Indians' committed contracts for the next several years.

Jason Davis has four arbitration years listed. So the conclusion is that he is projected as a super-two? Cot's has him at 1.147 service time before 2005.

For you and others who know more about this than I, do you see the Indians locking up some core players to longterm deals this season? (like they did with CC, Vic, and Pronk last year)

I could see them trying to do something with Lee, Peralta, and Sizemore sometime next offseason.

Something else to take from this chart: baseball teams seem to turn over slowly when you look forward, but quickly when you look backwards. You can easily project the core into 2008 or so, but when you finally get to 2008 and look back, you'll think "Wow, the team two, three years ago was a lot different from this one." For a more concrete example, something like only 10 guys played in both the '95 and '97 WS for the Indians, and those were only two years apart.

(Because it's the week before spring training, it is entirely reasonable to note that the Indians '06 and '08 WS teams will be different at least at RF, 2B, LF and Closer. But not at 3B, thanks to the heroics of mid-season call-up Andy Marte.)

Still a work in progress.....as some of the exact payroll info for the min guys won't be known until the first week of march. In the meantime, just listed the league mins for them.

As for Davis, he is currently at like 2.something as far as service time goes. I have a Tribe Media Guide ready to ship to me once they are printed....updated service time should be in there. But, from what I understand, he will be < 3 years of service time, and since you need 6 or more for FA, he'll be a SUper 2 next offseason and have 4 arby years. Someone correct me if I am wrong on that.

I'd love any input people can provide. Feedback is more than welcome, as I want to have the most accurate info as humanly possible.

Oh, I I believe Cliff Lee has to be a the most likely to get a long term deal this spring. The closest to arby between the 3 of Lee, Peralta, and Sizemore. But, I would expect they do 3 long term deals like Hafner, Martinez and Sabathia last Spring.

As for Davis, he is currently at like 2.something as far as service time goes. I have a Tribe Media Guide ready to ship to me once they are printed....updated service time should be in there. But, from what I understand, he will be < 3 years of service time, and since you need 6 or more for FA, he'll be a SUper 2 next offseason and have 4 arby years.

But that depends on how much time gets in the majors this season. If he is at 2.something now, he could finish this season at either 2.something (if he is in the minors all year), or more service time all the way to being over 3 years, after which he'll already have passed the 3 years necessary for arb, and then he'll have only 3 arb years.

Jumbo wrote:But that depends on how much time gets in the majors this season. If he is at 2.something now, he could finish this season at either 2.something (if he is in the minors all year), or more service time all the way to being over 3 years, after which he'll already have passed the 3 years necessary for arb, and then he'll have only 3 arb years.

Yeah, you are right on that. It is hard to project where he'll be, but I think if he spends at least 2/3's the season on the active roster he'll bump over 3 years of service time, meaning then he'll only have 3 arby years. I have to see what his actual service time number is in the media guide when it issues...once that is received, there will be a big update to the spreadsheet (and I will add service time for all to see).

Davis was at 1.147 going into last season.....and a quick look through the transaction history shows he was on the roster from 4/4-5/20, 6/3-6/15, 7/4-7/5, and 9/12 to 10/2.....depending how you include days, I came up with 79 days of service time accumulated in 2005.

From what I understand, a season of service time is 172 days.....so that 79 added to his 1.147 puts him around 2.054 this year. Meaning, he'd have to spend 118 of 172 days on the active list in 2006 (a little over 2/3s the season) to be over 3 years and only get 3 arby years....

I can't see Davis sticking all year....unless an injury forces him into the starting rotation for a long time. I'd bet he finishes the 2006 season with around 2.160 service time....

Not big news. All non-arbitration guys do not have signed deals, but these announced "signings" are just a formality as you'll actually see other non-arbitration guys like Sizemore, Cabrera, Lee, etc sign similar deals over the next few weeks. These are pre-determined deals, and are for around league min.

I would expect that Lee is a sure bet to get a long-term deal, of which will be announced in a similar fashion to Hafner, Martinez and Sabathia in April last year. Sizemore and Peralta are the only others I can see getting such offers, but it is possible the Indians wait on them since they are still 2 years removed from arbitration.

Yeah, IMO, I think you'll see Lee, Jhonny and Grady all get long-term extensions this April like Hafner, Martinez, and Sabathia last year. Lee is practically a given, but there is a chance they may wait it out with Grady and Jhonny another season for them to prove themselves....although their track record with Hafner and Martinez seems to show that if you are a core guy, produce and present the character traits the org likes that they will sign you up early.

I have to clear something up to better understand these contracts. Arbitration. Am I correct in thinking when a players files for arbitration they are still under the teams control? If so, are the years noted in the spread sheet, the years they are able to file?

Yes, the spreadsheet lists their "projected" arbitration years, or the most likely year arbitration starts. It is not known when exactly a player is eligible, because they have to accrue service time over the season. Just to keep this explanation simple, you need 3 years or service time before you enter your arbitration years. There is an exception to this rule called the SUper 2, but that's another discussion for another time.

Anyway, it goes like this (in simplistic terms):

- Teams control players for 6 years.
- Of those 6 years, the first 3 are non-arby years where players basically get min deals, and the final 3 are arby years where the club still controls the player but the player has some control on their salary.
- Team control can go beyond 6 years depending on how service time is accrued.